Intuition In Pharmaceutical R&D

1. Introduction
Intuition and
Innovation is at the bottom line, and based on the
pharmaceutical firm’s ability to manage creativity. Although
creativity is a most contested and polymorphous
research: the case of construct, here it is used to represent new ideas
AstraZeneca and thoughts that precede an innovation. Madjar
et al. (2002, p. 757) write:
We consider employee creativity to be the
Mats Sundgren and production of ideas, products, or procedures that
are (1) novel or original and (2) potentially useful
Alexander Styhre to the organization.

The authors One central issue in research on creativity in
organizations is the ability to clearly define ideas
Mats Sundgren is Executive PhD Student and
and thought that are considered creative or are
Alexander Styhre is Associate Professor, both at the
Fenix Research Program, Chalmers University of Technology,
proven to be creative. The dominant approach is to
Gothenburg, Sweden. treat creativity in a functionalist and instrumental
manner, that is, to conceive of creativity as
Keywords something that occurs or happens during certain
conditions that can be arranged or managed. This
Pharmaceuticals industry, Drugs, Design and development,
Intuition, Organizational innovation rationalist view has been the dominant perspective
in contemporary management theory. Gephart
Abstract (1996, pp. 95-6) writes:
Rationality has been the driving force of modern
The role of intuition receives little attention in the literature on
management. Rationality has begun to dissipate in
organizational creativity. This paper describes a study of the role
postmodernism, to become a cacophony of local
of intuition and its implications for organizational creativity
rationalities, but we need to decentre rationality,
within pharmaceutical research. The study applies French
not abandon rationality. We need to place
philosopher Bergson’s philosophy of intuition. The study is based
rationality alongside other human faculties –
on a series of interviews with employees in pre-clinical research
passion, love, hope, and intuition – in our effort to
(discovery) in a major pharmaceutical company; in this context, understand and shape the future of management
creativity is defined as an organization’s ability to bring forth a and history.
new candidate drug in the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular
therapy areas. This paper concludes that intuition is a resource Although rationality remains as one of the main
that facilitates new drug development. Pharmaceutical ingredients in management practice and theory, it
researchers perceive the roles of intuition and creativity as is important to be open to alternative perspectives.
intertwined in ground-breaking innovations. However intuition is Management is not simply the application of
a controversial phenomenon in the organization because it
several rational principles, such as those suggested
opposes reductionistic and analytical forms of thinking, which
are highly prized in new drug development. Bergson’s by Frederick W. Taylor; it also draws on “passion,
philosophy may form a fruitful foundation from which intuition love, hope, and intuition”. For example, creative
and its relevance for organizational creativity can be exploited. work is based on highly technical and specialized
knowledge within a particular field, but it is
Electronic access simultaneously dependent on commitment,
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is communication, and experimental thinking.
available at Jeffcut (2000, p. 125) writes:
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister [T]he creative process is sustained by inspiration
and informed by talent, vitality and commitment
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is (i.e., a need to create rather than to consume): this
available at makes creative work volatile, dynamic and risk-
www.emeraldinsight.com/1460-1060.htm taking, shaped by important tacit skills (or
expertise) that are frequently submerged (even
mystified) within domains of endeavor. Hence, the
crucial relationship between creativity and
innovation (i.e., the process of development of
original ideas toward their realization/
consumption) remains unruly and poorly
understood.
European Journal of Innovation Management
Volume 7 · Number 4 · 2004 · pp. 267-279 Creative work is never solely an outcome from the
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 1460-1060 instrumental application of a set of management
DOI 10.1108/14601060410565029 principles but must always be open to what
267

Intuition and pharmaceutical research: the case of AstraZeneca European Journal of Innovation Management
Mats Sundgren and Alexander Styhre Volume 7 · Number 4 · 2004 · 267-279

Gephart calls “other human faculties” such as other human faculties. More specifically, we make
passion or intuition. use of the notion of intuition developed by the
This paper presents a study of the role of French philosopher Henri Bergson. For Bergson,
intuition in new drug development in the intuition is a key human faculty, capable of
pharmaceutical industry. New drug development “thinking movement” rather than “solids”. While
is a highly specialized activity that involves concepts and well-known facts are always
expertise in biosciences, such as biology, synthesis appearing as fixed points and positions, the faculty
chemistry, medicine, and pharmacology. So new of intuition is the ability to think about change and
drug development depends on formal knowledge movement between such points. So for Bergson,
and expertise in relevant scientific domains. New intuition is part of all sophisticated, creative
drug development is based on formal management thinking.
procedures and on factors that remain somewhat
tacit: creative solutions to practical problems,
unexpected applications of taken-for-granted
knowledge, novel forms of thinking, and so forth 2. Creativity in organizations
(Dorabje et al., 1998). These various minor
innovations and procedures draw on what we refer Many organizations strive for these capabilities:
to here as intuition – or to use a popular metaphor: creativity and innovation, i.e. the generation of
“what is in between the dots constitutes the line”. new ideas and the ability to translate the ideas into
While what Gephart calls rational knowledge is action (Mumford et al., 2002). However, from
widely known (and not contested facts, the dots), organizational and practical perspectives, gaps
intuition is not well known. Intuition has a shared exist between theory and practice when attempting
regime of representations; essentially, it is still to understand creative-action organizations (Ford
epistemologically contested or slippery. In other and Gioia, 2000). From a theoretical perspective,
words, intuition is between the well-known facts myths and romance with creativity somewhat
and procedures in scientific discovery. Intuition influenced much of the previous research on
facilitates the ability to apply scientific knowledge creativity. The myths may oversimplify
and to see consequences of various experiments explanations for events and attribute great
before formal proof is acquired. So intuition is very achievements merely to individuals. More recent
important for creativity in new drug development. research questioned the validity of the personalized
Studies of scientific work (e.g. Knorr Cetina, approach to creativity, and instead stressed the
1999; Pickering, 1995; Lynch, 1985; Latour and importance of the productive interplay between
Woolgar, 1979) show that scientific work is never individuals and the ecosystems of individuals, i.e.
as linear, homogeneous, and one-dimensional as organizational design and reward systems (Ford,
one may think. Instead, controversies, alternative 1995a, Gioia, 1995).
explanations, empirical inconsistencies, and local According to Ford (1995b), creativity is not an
interpretations always characterize production of inherent quality of a person, process, product, or
“scientific” facts. In short, a certain degree of place. It is a domain-specific social construction
heterogeneity exists within scientific knowledge. that is legitimized by judges who serve as
Pickering (1995, p. 70) writes: gatekeepers to a particular domain. Furthermore,
[S]cientific knowledge should be understood as most of the creativity research pays no attention to
sustained by, and as part of, interactive organizational or professional concerns (Ford,
stabilizations situated in a multiple and 1995b). So an important step in understanding
heterogeneous space of machines, instruments, creativity in an organizational context is to take a
conceptual structures, disciplined practices, social more holistic approach, i.e. to take a systems
actors and their relations, and so forth. approach and apply the concept of organizational
So scientific and laboratory work is never the black creativity (Ford, 2000; Woodman et al., 1993).
box it is treated like in common sense thinking. This leads to focus on the potential source of
Instead, intuition – the ability to anticipate results creativity and on increasing understanding of
and to see broader pictures on the basis of creativity in organizations. Another aspect of
empirical observations – is a highly useful skill. traditional creativity research is that the different
Drawing on a series of interviews in a pre-clinical distinct foci of creativity, such as the creative
organization in a major pharmaceutical company, person, place, process, and product (e.g. Amabile,
this paper suggests that intuition is very important 1996; Boden, 1996; Ekvall and Ryhammar, 1999;
for new drug development. The new drug Eysenck, 1996), do not facilitate useful
development process requires standard operating understanding of how creativity works in an
procedures and routine work plus creative and organizational context. So organizational creativity
inventive thinking. Formal rational systems are can be seen as a concept that accounts for the
thus always entangled with intuitive thinking and organizational context, interactions, and history
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between the individual and the collaborative abandoned until the end of the century. At the start
nature of creativity and links different subsets of of the new millennium, interest in Bergson’s
intermediaries of creativity (Andriopoulos, 2001; philosophy was revived (see, e.g. Linstead, 2002
Drazin et al., 1999). and Wood, 2002). To discuss Bergson’s view of
Intuition is an important but rather neglected intuition, one must recapitulate other areas of
subset of organizational creativity. Previous Bergson’s thinking. So the notion of intuition is
research on creativity has acknowledged the role placed within a broader ontological and
intuition may play in the individual creative epistemological framework that gives sense and
process (Policastro, 1999). However, some meaning to the notion of intuition. For Bergson, the
researchers consider the scientific study of basic ontological principle is that world consists of
intuition impossible. The major reasons are that processes. Processes and movements constitute the
intuition is either considered an esoteric world that we can experience – not entities:
phenomenon, such as ESP, or just erratic nonsense In reality, things are events of a special kind,
(Policastro, 1995). Empirical studies that link temporary crystallization of images; it would be
intuition to creativity in an organizational context proper to say that, for Bergson, movement is the
are scarce (Agor, 1989). Previous research on real and original stuff the world is made of, whereas
intuition in an organizational context mainly the picture of the universe as consisting of distinct
focuses on leadership and decision making material objects is an artifact of intelligence. These
(Bechara et al., 1997; Wilson and Schooler, 1991) ideas – the logical and metaphysical priority of
events over objects – was to be subsequently taken
or as an intersection of psychology and cognitive up and developed in detail by A.N. Whitehead
science. So intuition is an important factor when (1968), probably not without inspiration from
trying to understand the management of Bergson (Kolakowski, 1985, p. 45).
organizational creativity.
Literature on innovation management research This ontological principle is also an
barely acknowledges the role of intuition in epistemological principle. But being in the world is
organizations. There is an ongoing debate on the not based on a series of succeeding points but is
dominant lack of realism about the cognitive instead based on what Bergson calls duree ´
nature of technological change; and here, the (duration). Moore (1996, p. 55) explains:
prevailing assumption is that problems are fixed It is not that we start from discrete items of
and known in the beginning of innovation experience spread out in time but somehow
processes (Nightingale, 2003, 1998). From this threaded together like beads on a string of
consciousness. Rather we start from the experience
perspective, Roberts (1998), Saviotti (1998), and of temporal flow. Temporal structure is not a
Nelson (2003) acknowledged and stressed the matter of putting together given discrete items. On
important role of tacit knowledge in technical the contrary, so-called discrete elements are only
change and how scientific knowledge is used in apparent when we have a need to pluck them from
innovation. Nightingale (1998) demonstrates the our continuing experience.
vital role of tacit knowledge in science-driven
Linstead (2002, p. 101) further clarifies:
organizations and emphasizes that for new drug
Bergson argues that human experience of real life is
development, the elusive nature of innovation
not a succession of clearly demarcated conscious
depends on learned, tacit conceptions that cannot states, progressing along some imaginary line (from
be reduced to information processing and thus sorrow to happiness, for example) but rather a
demonstrates that tacit knowledge is important for continuous flow in which these states
creativity and is not easily captured or codified interpenetrate and are often unclear, being capable
(Leonard and Sensiper, 1998). In this sense, tacit of sustaining multiple perspectives.
knowledge can be seen as one of several Human beings do not experience time as a
overlapping subsets or characteristics of intuition. mechanical stepwise movement from the past to
However, it is reasonable to believe that tacit the present and into the future. Instead, they
knowledge and intuition resonate rather than
experience time as a continuous series of events
cohere or correspond with each other.
based on simultaneity – past, present, and future
are never entirely separated; instead, they are
always related in experience. Massumi (2002,
3. The concept of intuition p. 200) writes:
The basic insight of Henri Bergson’s philosophy . . .
This section examines Bergson’s notion of is that past and future are not just strung-out
intuition. Bergson is one of the most important punctual presents. They are continuous
dimensions contemporaneous to every present –
philosophers of the twentieth century. During his which is by nature a smudged becoming, not a
lifetime, he was very influential in politics, art, and point state . . . Past and future are in direct,
philosophy. After his death, the fashionable topological proximity with each other, operatively
Bergsonism fell from grace and was essentially joined in a continuity of mutual folding.
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´
In summary, Bergson’s notion of duree refuses to have to live in the world of excess of our needs, and
treat human experience as a mechanical, in excess of the self-presentation or immanence of
spatialized experience that consists of clearly materiality, to collapse ourselves, as things, back
´ into the world.
demarcated solids brought together. The duree of a
human being is always recalling the past into the Ansell Pearson (2002, p. 124) argues:
future to anticipate the future. According to Bergson, the abstract intellect, which
´
While the notion of duree is primarily a construct has evolved as an organ of utility and calculability,
that explores the psychology of humans, the idea of proceeds by beginning with the immobile and
continuity and what Bergson calls spatialized simply reconstructs movements with juxtaposed
thinking is very important for his theory of immobilities. By contrast, intuition, as he conceives
it, starts from movement and sees in immobility
knowledge. Just as what Bergson calls mechanical
only a snapshot taken by our mind.
clock time tends to break down the continuous
´
experience of duree into isolated points and So intuition is what breaks free from language and
positions, concepts and representations perform sees what is outside of the concept, outside of the
the same operation for knowledge. Language, the language that we use to denote the world. Here,
primary medium for thinking and knowledge, is language is not only everyday concept, but is also
based on concepts that are generally thought of as equally the regime of representation that
denoting certain events, essences, or practices. For dominates the world of natural sciences and the
Bergson, concepts can only capture a subset of biosciences. While language is a prosthesis for
human knowledge because they represent thinking (just a tool), thinking that draws on
“cinematographic thinking”, that is, snapshots of intuition abandons such a prosthesis in favor of a
events and occurrences in a continuous more free form of thinking. Whitehead (1968,
intrinsically moving reality. Concepts are thus p. 49) says “language halts behind intuition.”
formed as attempts to glue a world in motion into n summary, Bergson develops an ontology and
certain positions and fixed points. Bergson (1992, epistemology of movement and becoming;
p. 137) writes: processes rather than solids and entities constitute
To know a reality in the ordinary meaning of the the world. So the human experience does not
word “to know” is to take ready-made concepts, consist of single instances stacked on one another
apportion them, and combine them until one but is based on the simultaneity of past, present,
obtains a practical equivalent of the real. and future. In addition, Bergson’s theory of
He continues: knowledge separates use of ready-made concepts
Every language, whether elaborated or crude, that are used as tools for thinking and
leaves many more things to be understood than it is communication and calls that which is positioned
able to express. Essentially discontinuous, since it between concepts (solids) intuition. While concepts
proceeds by juxtaposing words, speech can only help us see the world as a series of demarcated
indicate by a few guideposts placed here and there instances and events, intuition makes us think in
the chief stages in the moment of thought
(Bergson, 1999, p. 125). terms of movement and becoming. Intuition is
thinking that lies between the known and the
Concepts are thus ready-mades that are applied to represented. Intuition is thinking beyond language.
cases; they represent “classified thinking” In terms of creativity, and more specifically,
(Bachelard, 1964, p. 75) and are therefore incapable creativity in terms of new drug development in the
of seeing movement. In brief, concepts are “solids”: pharmaceutical industry, intuition is thinking that
According to his [Bergson’s] account, concepts are uses what is already known – solids of verified
formed on the model of spatial solids, and it is knowledge or facts provided by the research efforts
consequently impossible to think about time and laboratory work – to anticipate what is not
without importing into it some of the features of
homogeneous space (Mullarkey, 1999, p. 19). known and established, negotiated, and agreed on
as facts. Intuition is thus thinking that goes beyond
Thinking always uses concepts, and concepts can or passes what is already known to enable new
never entirely capture the movement and solutions and findings. As the empirical material
becoming of being; although they are still useful suggests, this form of thinking outside of the solids
tools in understanding such as world. For Bergson, is highly valued in pharmaceutical research.
intuition enables for understanding of movement.
While concepts consist of solids are based on
cinematographic thinking, which make us unable
to see what is outside of ourselves, intuition is the 4. The pharmaceutical industry
faculty of thinking between the solids. Grosz
(2001, p. 175) writes: This paper presents a study of intuition in pre-
Intuition is our nonpragmatic, noneffective, clinical drug development and describes how
nonexpedient relation to the world, the capacity we intuition can increase knowledge about
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organizational creativity in a modern is intertwined with the company’s ability to
pharmaceutical industry. The focal company is generate knowledge and expertise over a wide
one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the array of knowledge domains that can produce
world and a manufacturer of medications in many NCEs, patents, and finally new medicines that are
therapy areas. The company’s three largest therapy capable of becoming marketable products (see,
areas are cancer, cardiovascular, and e.g. Roberts, 1999). The high-tech, science-based
gastrointestinal. The company’s research and pharmaceutical industry differs from other
development (R&D) centers in Europe and the industries with similar R&D intensity and use of
USA employ more than 10,000 people, and its new scientific concepts and technologies because
2003 R&D budget was US$2.7 billion. Today, the pharma:
company has more than 50,000 employees .
must operate in a highly regulated
worldwide. environment;
Briefly, pharmaceutical industry research . has long development cycles – up to 15 years;
(which also applies the focal company) is divided and
into two major processes: discovery (pre-clinical) .
assumes a high degree of risk during research
and development (clinical). Discovery is the most (Pisano, 1997).
critical process in new drug development. The pharmaceutical industry invests a significant
Discovery’s primary objective is to generate ideas amount of its sales into R&D (in the focal company
for disease relief (modification of disease-related more than 20 percent). Over the last decade, the
problems and complaints) or in the best case, for a cost for large clinical trials has increased
disease’s cure – by using a new chemical entity dramatically (Zivin, 2000).
(NCE). Discovery begins by defining a disease The pharmaceutical industry has had a long
area and a target to manipulate. This target should tradition of scientific breakthroughs and
have potential for altering the disease or its innovations (Horrobin, 2002). However, the
symptoms in a preferred way. The target (e.g. a industry currently wrestles with many issues; some
receptor or an enzyme) is tested against many of the most serious are rapidly increasing costs of
chemical substances using in vitro systems or R&D coupled with only small increases in output
biological models (Lesko et al., 2000). The aim is during drug discovery (Schmid and Smith,
to establish a chemical structure for a biological 2002a). During the last decade, the industry has
activity relationship, which in the successful increased its focus on incremental innovation, on
project leads to a candidate drug (CD). The CD is decreasing time to market, and on reducing
then further tested for putative toxicity and if bottlenecks to optimize the length of the product’s
found safe, an application for approval of testing in patent (Tranter, 2000). Many pharmaceutical
humans is submitted (investigation of a new drug, companies have turned to rigorous project and
IND) to drug regulatory authorities and ethical portfolio management to make the research
committees. Discovery is a complex process that process more effective (Schmid and Smith,
involves a multitude of scientific disciplines and 2002b). Furthermore, extensive efforts have been
includes many factors that could influence a made to implement technologies in pre-clinical
successful outcome. It normally takes three to five research (discovery), such as computer-aided drug
years to produce a CD (Pisano, 1997). After design, combinatorial chemistry linked to high
approval, the development organization takes over throughput screening (HTS) to increase
the CD to start initial studies in humans. innovative output. To conclude, based on the
Development’s objective is to transform and current situation in the industry, there is
validate pre-clinical models for human concept pronounced concern about how to balance
tests. During development, the CD is further organizational creativity and economies of scale –
tested in clinical trials to clarify if the drug has the to produce radical innovations (Horrobin, 2001).
desired therapeutic effects (i.e. proof of concept). The present study was conducted at one of the
These trials are followed by larger clinical trials to Swedish R&D centers, which is also the largest in
meet medical, ethical, and regulatory standards the company – plus a skill center for several
and commercial demands (i.e. proof of principle). technologies, such as like HTS and computed-
The development process often takes four to six aided drug design.
years.
The pharmaceutical industry is renowned for
being knowledge-intensive, and new product
development activities are long-term investments 5. Method
in terms of time and capital (Yeoh and Roth, 1999;
Roberts, 1999; Heppard and Blasick, 2000). The This qualitative study (Strauss and Corbin, 1990,
pharmaceutical industry’s competitive advantage 1994; Silverman, 1993) is based on interviews
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(Kvale, 1996) with ten senior researchers and in the study were divided into three categories. The
senior managers in AstraZeneca R&D. The first defined and positioned phenomena in the
discovery organization at R&D center was the focal context of pharmaceutical research. The second
point. Qualitative methodology facilitates investigated how intuition plays a role in drug
investigation of complex issues through narratives. discovery research and its relation to organizational
Rather than selecting a few variables on a creativity. And the third dealt with different
pharmaceutical research project, we integrated organizational factors, such as technoscience and
several interrelated questions and issues that are leadership and their relationships to intuition. For
important for the drug discovery process. The aim example, how different sophisticated technologies
of the interviews was to encourage respondents to and technoscience influence interaction with
describe their drug research experiences in relation phenomena.
to intuition and organizational creativity. Here,
organizational creativity is defined as the
organization’s ability to bring forth a new candidate 6.1 What is intuition in the context of
drug in the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular pharmaceutical research?
therapy areas. A narrative approach does not seek Because intuition has multiple connotations, it is
what Bruner (1986) calls a “logico-scientific mode important to specify its meaning in the context of
of knowledge” whereby an explanation is achieved pharmaceutical research. Policastro (1995)
through the recognition of an event or utterance as suggests two complimentary definitions of
belonging to certain category or as following a intuition: one based on a metaphorical perception
general law. In short, a narrative approach strives to of phenomena and the other on a tacit form of
present contextualized narratives to make sense of knowledge. One of the respondents expressed this
complex, ambiguous, fluid realties – and not latter form and emphasized that intuition in
nomological knowledge (Habermas, 1968). The pharmaceutical research is a combination of broad
respondents in this study cover the most important knowledge and competence:
disciplines involved in drug discovery: medicinal Intuition comes from broad competence together
chemistry, pharmacology, biochemistry, and with extensive experience in a special area. For me,
computational chemistry. The respondents also intuition is the ability to predict things with pretty
represent important roles and managerial levels in good precision on the basis of the competence
the R&D organization, for example, disease area platform somewhere in the background . . . yes, it’s
leader, senior scientific advisors, and project like a limit between intuition and not yet proven
knowledge is floating as a chemist. I mean, you can
leaders. AstraZeneca R&D, Molndal was chosen
¨ show a chemist a structure and say: “Do you think
for the study because it is one of the most successful that this will be potent?” And then he has a much
pharmaceutical sites in the company. Several better opportunity to answer yes or no to the
blockbuster drugs, the basis for the financial question than another chemist who has not worked
performance of the company as a whole, have been in our project. He can’t point it out because that
developed at the site, which makes the company a nitrogen is there or there. He can look at the
relevant object of study in terms of drug discovery structure and say: “No, I don’t think so.” It is
probably doubtful. It is obvious he can point out
and organizational creativity activities. The certain things, like: “I think the chain is a little too
interviews were made at AstraZeneca R&D in long.” Or something like that (Pharmacology,
2003. person 1).
Another respondent defined intuition as a feeling
and expressed a significant amount of vagueness
6. Intuition in new drug development: the and thus correlated intuition with risk taking:
case of AstraZeneca I think that intuition is a kind of feeling. It is like
what vision is for planning. Intuition is a type of
The study investigated different aspects of capacity that comes with experience. I actually
think that intuition is very important in the whole
intuition and its relation to organizational research process – particularly in early discovery
creativity in pharmaceutical research. phases. Because intuition is correlated with risk-
Pharmaceutical research in the discovery taking, it’s difficult to base decisions on intuition
organization is based on sophisticated for clinical programs, which is of course ethically
technoscientific laboratory work. The search for correct. But in early phases in discovery, it’s simpler
NCEs and their further development to finished and easier to take intuitive decisions about different
products occur in distributed knowledge systems in things, like in toxicity studies or choices of methods
(Biochemistry, person 2).
which several different areas of expertise are
integrated. NCEs are the outcomes of joint efforts One researcher stressed that intuition represents a
by medicinal chemists, biologists, and dichotomy that is rational and sensible and
pharmacologists. Questions and issues addressed irrational and impossible to communicate:
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Intuition is something that summarizes experience and broad knowledge play an important role that
for better or worse, because sometimes it’s rational may lead to important solutions for scientific
and other times it’s irrational. I believe that many problems.
experienced researchers have some kind of touch of
recognition to identify new situations and put them
in relation to something they have experienced 6.2 Does intuition matter in drug discovery
before. I think that often, you see that intuition is research?
something that you cannot put into a list. I believe On the rather broad issue of whether intuition
in this method or in this molecule because . . . And plays a role in drug discovery research, all
you can list carefully researched facts about it and
respondents claimed in different ways that
maybe refer to different parts, and there you have it
very clearly why you recommend one. But many intuitition has a major, but complicated, influence.
times it is a little weaker. Maybe you have made One respondent explained:
some calculations that are not very clear, but you Of course, it’s very important. But I firmly believe
have made others and maybe have seen earlier cases that intuition is a summarized picture you get from
that remind you of it, but you cannot really put all the experience and the knowledge you have. So I
your finger on what it is. Like when it’s more vague don’t think that intuition is hocus pocus or
but you anyway feel very strongly that this is the something that you should be sceptical about. It’s a
one you believe in (Computational chemistry, gut feeling. Very important. And I think that it’s
person 6). based on things that are inside you and that you
should absolutely trust it (Computational
An organic chemist described intuition as the chemistry, person 7).
ability to make combinations and explain how
chemical structures can be visualized into a type of All respondents expressed in various ways that
harmony: there is a relation between intuition and creativity.
Many respondents claimed that intuition and
For me, intuition is almost emotional; it’s like that
things look good. For example, if I have a synthesis creativity greatly overlap. In some cases, two
that I am working with, I can get a feeling that “this respondents thought that intuition and creativity
should work” . . . it’s something that is very useful in are basically the same concept. But they
what I do, because it has to do with combining emphasized that intuition cannot be controlled
earlier pieces of evidence – call it intuition. But it is and creativity can, for example, through
imagination and an ability to make combinations. imagination and domain knowledge:
It’s like you feel intuitively that it’s right (Organic
chemistry, person 4). You cannot do something if you don’t know the
tools: the carpenter must know his tools.
One respondent emphasized the strong
One researcher provides a concrete example of
relationship to knowledge and pointed out the
how intuition links to creativity:
ambiguitiy of intuition in the research process and
Intuition and creativity go together. It’s not so easy
how to handle it: to separate them. You also must have intuition; it’s
Intuition is based partly on the experience of not always that it must be that way. For example,
having being a part of and seen many examples and entrepreneurship need not always lead to getting
then being able to connect the experience with . . . there the quickest way. There can be other people
But also being able to digest many different signals who help make a decision. It’s exactly the same
into a conclusion – that’s some kind of partial thing that you do in the lab. You might have a target
explanation of what intuition is, I think. The molecule but a lot of different ways of getting to it.
difficulty is that if you look at calculation methods, Not only using intuition but a combination of
intuition is like neural networks; there is no intuition and experience, in any case; one person
explanation. You can train yourself in calculation maybe chooses a way that leads to being able to
models, calculating responses that you see are make the substance more quickly than the others,
pretty good, but you do not have the vaguest idea of for example. That you really can produce it
how the algorithms have come to that result. But (Organic chemistry, person 4).
that there are other robust calculation methods that
are more rational, where you can understand the Another respondent gave this example, which
coefficient that appears. And man’s brain has an points out that intuition can also be an obstacle to
ability to weigh in all types of information and creativity:
backgrounds and experiences into something Yes, the connection is probably complicated. I’d say
that is a decision or an intuition or whatever you that creativity can be damaged by too much
can call it. And it is good when it is rational. It is less intuition and especially this unconscious intuition.
good when it is irrational. I think we are colored by Then I’m worried about getting stuck in a rut. That
many irrational things (Computational chemistry, in some way, it may be wrong to say that it
person 6). quantitatively obstructs creativity, but it stops it, I
think there is a risk that it stops creativity
In conclusion, all respondents expressed to varying
qualitatively in a narrower niche. If you dare to
degrees that intuition in the context of challenge and question your own intuitive solution
pharmaceutical research is an intinsic ability to to problems, then you maybe broaden your
produce various associations for which experience perspective and come to – I would not say more or
273


less creative, I mean not fewer or more creative worry, like: “Damn, I can’t put this thing aside.”
solutions – but you may reach other qualities, and You can’t fall asleep at night, and you don’t really
they in turn are difficult to evaluate, which is better understand why you have that worried feeling. It
or which is worse? (Computational chemistry, must be some kind of intuition that you have. But at
person 6). the same time it’s actually – you can actually
describe it like you have broad competence. I think
Although the notion of intuition is percieved as that the people who are good researchers are the
something important, almost all respondents said ones who have the ability to store information in
that intuition is rarely or never discussed in the their heads and bring it out and remember that:
organization, for example: “this doesn’t really go together with the article I
It [creativity] is discussed at times. I am one of read seven years ago”, and they get it out and look at
it. Okay, it must be because of this. That ability to
those people who makes just these, if you could do
be able to store that information and retrieve it
rational methods for working instead, uses
(Pharmacology, person 1).
experimental design, thinks through why you do an
experiment and so on. Many people say: “Yes, A specific example of how intuition plays a role in
when we’re designing drugs, we must let the drug discovery research is given in this example.
chemists use their intuition, you know?” And that
The researcher, in organic chemistry and
makes them say: “Yes, but I’ve darn well been
working with synthetic chemistry for 20 years, and computational drug design, was involved in a
I get a feeling that if we put an amide group here, screening project that was looking for a new
then there will be higher activity”. And then the cardivascular drug compound. The task was to
discussion comes directly into: “Yes, to what extent invent a pathway for how to synthesize a new
should we let the chemists use their intuition?” And chemical structure. Computational chemistry is
of course, it does happen that structures that you based on computational technology being able to
find out are good have been intuitively designed. visualize and simulate the way in which drug
And then you can ask yourself if it’s what we call molecules and targets (e.g. large proteins or an
serendipity and how much serendipity is colored by
enzyme) may interact:
intuition that someone has through experience. But
research can be maximizing the chance to have . . . it can be small things, you might get something
serendipity, although where intuition is maybe a back – you work in a project, you get back data and
positive factor. Sometimes anyway. I think it’s very get the feeling that something is wrong. It’s just not
important to be aware of intuition. Going on right. You look at the pattern and see for example
intuition without knowing it yourself. It’s like what structures are active, what are not active, you
analogous to being unaware. Lack of knowledge is look at the pattern and you feel that “no, this is not
pretty safe, but not knowing about your own lack of right.” And what do you do then? Of course you try,
knowledge, unawareness, that is not good. And I for example, you screen them again, you test them
think it’s the same with intuition, except in the one more time and find out that it is wrong,
other direction, because intuition can be a good everything does not really work the way it should or
thing, especially if you understand it and deal with that it really is what it looks to be, and then there’s
it in a healthy way (Computational chemistry, still something that is not right and then you must
person 6). go further and then maybe it has something to do
with the mechanism. You must keep on working
Here, a researcher contrasted the role that and modifying. You have to maybe get to the
intuition might play (although it is a vague, less bottom of the thing that is not right. The picture is
controllable concept) with the present not completely clear. And you proceed in that way
and discover something else. Yes, you get the
organization and its strong emphasis on cost feeling that this is not quite right. And you work on
effectiveness, detailed project plans, and a it, make sure that you go on trying to get to the
controlled drug discovery process: bottom of it. I have had that experience in projects
The drug development process is not so damned (Computational chemistry, person 7).
rational as a lot of people would like it to be, instead
intuition can prove to be extremely significant. And In conclusion, all respondents express the notion
intuition comes, I think, you can make it easier for that intuition in different perspectives and
them by having a long-term view in the disease disciplines plays an important role in drug discovery
area. I think it’s much easier to follow your research. In addition, most of the respondents
intuition if you have worked within a specific argued that intuition is strongly linked to creativity.
disease area for a long time than when you have
more general intuition about different things. It’s
like a feeling when you just read a scientific paper 6.3 Intuition and organizational aspects
you feel that this – sometimes you can have some To make the research more effective and increase
kind of worried feeling – you feel that this is innovative output, the influence of various
important for our work, but you don’t know what. technologies (e.g. high throughput screening and
And then you can’t let it go. And sometimes then
the whole thing gels and you realize: “Yes of computational drug design) is now an important
course!” And then if you have even more luck, it can part of pharmaceutical research. These new
lead to success. And without what you could define scientific screening methods represent an attempt
as intuition that gave some person that feeling of to use various forms of what Bachelard (1984)
274


´ ´
calls phenomenotechniques, “technologies of for continuity too, but they have not done that
visualization” that enable faster identification of anyway. I mean, the press gets harder and harder
NCEs. The technologies involve a completely new on the organization too. There must be more and
more targets, there are projects and so on and so
way to manage scientific data and information.
forth. I mean, there is hardly time for being able to
These technologies might make routine work more sit down and think. You must put together reports
efficient but may be an obstacle to scientific for different levels all the time. You are driven by
creativity (see Thomke and Kuemmerle, 2002, having to have something positive to say at these
p. 631; Cardinal, 2001). However, as a meetings, and you focus on coming up with
representative for top management pointed out, something for them, but that maybe is not really
the increasing role of intuition might have to what you should be doing after all, but maybe you
should work a little, little more long term, and you
bridge that gap: miss that with this type of project (Organic
. . . if you can use technologies in routine work and chemistry, person 5).
make things more quickly and perhaps more
precise, get more reliable results like a lot of these Another aspect of intuition is that it is seen as
robot systems can do than if you are doing it something mysterious, and subsequently
manually then it is a great advantage, which should unprofessional or nonscientific; a chemist
also actually give people more time to think explains:
creatively. Many successes in automatization make
it possible for us to have access to completely new There are prejudices. I mean that intuition is built
amounts of data that we can treat in a completely on – like I said, what I believe – earlier experience.
different way than before, because we have so much And you can easily be led to believe something that
more data. We can see patterns and other things is a preconceived idea and that directs you too
that maybe would otherwise be completely much, and you don’t look at the facts that exist
impossible to identify. You should look at these (Computational chemistry, person 7).
technologies as tools and then there is always a The importance of leadership and intuition may
human factor when you are looking at data. This
not be obvious. However, a respresentative from
evaluation, you have to put it into its context. Is it
actually reasonable? Should we choose this senior management pointed out the need for
chemical structure that had a signal in this high management attention in relation to intuitive
throughput screening? Or is it perhaps completely dimensions in drug discovery:
impossible to do, modifying it so that it can be Yes, because as a leader, the point is not only to
optimised. We don’t have a really good selection push your own ideas, you know, but to listen to the
system yet. Instead, we have certain filters so that ideas of the person who is the most recent
you can take away characteristics and other things employee. I think it would also send the right
but it’s still up to a creative evaluation by an signals if even higher management can accept, so to
experienced chemist, and it’s also based on – not speak, the newest guy’s view of the business. As it
just knowledge but also on intuition. I think that looks through others’ eyes, too. They come from
intuition and research are incredibly important the outside (Discovery senior management,
when it comes to seeing that this is darn important. person 3).
It may also be creativity. It’s a question of
definition, you know, but having an intuitive feeling In conclusion, although intuition in drug discovery
about this being the right way and this is an research is claimed to be highly important, the
important result (Discovery senior management, respondents argue that it is something that is
person 3). seldom or never talked about in the organization.
Most respondents disclosed problematic factors Furthermore, the common notion from the
when dealing with intuition in the organization. respondents reflects different concerns about how
One factor was the way in which intuition is intuition is exploited in the current rationalized
increasingly affected when planning and managing drug discovery process.
drug discovery research. This is illustrated by one
respondent:
The organization today is in such a streamlined
format in some way, it feels like. The way it works
7. Discussion
with us anyway, you maybe work for a period of
months with a target and then that is the end of that Pharmaceutical researchers claim that the human
and you start on something new and it can in and of faculty of intuition represents thinking that goes
itself be very stimulating, but after that time you beyond the strictly rational and representational;
have learned what you have started to work with intuition is claimed to be emotional, a gut feeling,
and then you must stop and start on something drawing on experience, and vacillating between
new. I don’t know – in that way I have a little bit of being rational and irrational. Intuition is a mode of
a hard time thinking that we’re working in the right
way somehow. There must be continuity in some thinking that accounts for what is not really proved
way in the organization and it is a little too divided in scientific terms, but still is valuable knowledge
into parts in some way. Yes, I think that it actually in the process of drug discovery and development.
feels like that sometimes. I hope that there is room In addition, the faculty of intuition matters in new
275


drug development. Intuition is a type of thinking coherent theoretical framework developed for use
that is captured by metaphors such as “thinking when studying such events and occurrences. So a
outside the box” or “seeing the broad picture”, Bergsonian view of intuition could be fruitfully
that is, metaphors that depict intuition as the developed within this literature. Rather than
ability to see relationships, causalities, and other conceiving of some forms of thinking as being
associations for which there are not yet proofs of merely “original” (one trait of what we tend to
such relationships. New drug development is a deem as creative), Bergson’s thinking offers an
highly specialized activity that consists of many ontological and epistemological model that can
different scientific disciplines, and authorities examine what this kind of originality consists of,
regulate the process. Consequently, effective for example, if originality in solutions will make
management of operations must support new drug interesting and new syntheses of what is already
development. If intuition is regarded as the known. At the bottom line, Bergson may be a
capacity to make decisions under time pressure – useful ally when criticizing the technical-
without complete information (i.e. being subject to instrumental rationality that serves as the bedrock
what Herbert Simon calls “bounded rationality”), for all management activities. Standardized
then intuition is a highly useful resource in new management solutions for engagement with an
drug development. But intuition is, as some of the external world (e.g. calculation, reduction of
interviewees pointed out, by no means an extra- continuous realities to discrete events and entities,
rational or super-rational capacity that can be and enactment of stable and predictable
invoked in cases for which complete information is
relationships between different actors) are mostly
unavailable; intuition is always at stake because it
analytical in nature; the management mentality
draws on experiences and emotional faculties. So
establishes a world that is manageable (Gephart,
invoking intuition is a political issue because by
1996). This works fine as long as such
definition, it goes beyond formal decision-making
reductionism is applicable. In many cases,
systems that are provided. In short, intuition is an
management practice cannot rely on its analytical
individual and organizational resource that is
apparatus and needs to develop practices,
complicated to manage and not like new
techniques, and systems that can deal with fluidity,
technologies, such as HTS, which do not rely on
the experiences and emotions of pharmaceutical movement, and change, in brief, when speaking of
researchers but rather on automation of the Bergson, what cannot be fully captured by the
identification of new chemical substances. rational thinking of the intellect. Grint (1997, p. 9)
The pharmaceutical researchers emphasized writes:
that intuition is an important resource in new drug Like many other forms of thought, [management
development activities. Yet the concept of intuition theory] does tend to rationalize away the
paradoxes, chance, luck, errors, subjectivities,
is not fully examined in the organization creativity
accidents, and sheer indeterminacy of life through
literature. If one follows Bergson in conceiving of a prism of apparent control and rationality.
intuition as thinking that is “pre-representational”
and operates outside of the favored regime of In the case of new drug development, perhaps
representation (e.g. mathematics or a scientific what occurs between analytical systems of HTS
vocabulary), then intuition has a rather clear and other technologies are never regarded as
meaning and role vis-a `-vis more conventional and anything more than such chance, luck, and errors.
analytical forms of rationality. For Bergson, So intuition may be representative of a form of
rational thinking is analytical in terms of being able thinking that goes beyond these reductionism
to reduce a complex matter to a signifying system, modes of thinking. Arvid Carlson, a 2001 Nobel
but intuition is synthetic in terms of being able to laureate in medicine with extensive new drug
see what is outside of the signifying system. When development experience, testifies to this need for
using the metaphor of “single dots constituting a taking the consequences of what one may already
line”, then rational thinking is the individual dots know:
which we know are there, while intuition enables Especially on the discovery side, it is like walking in
synthesis from the line and substantiates the claim a labyrinth, you face many decision points and the
that the spaces between the dots are not just voids thing is not to jump in the wrong direction too
but are regularities that constitute the line. many times. The first thing you need is luck, and
Consequently, it may be argued that the literature then it is the other, what people call intuition . . .
And then there is the question: what is intuition?
on organizational creativity has not been very
Intuition is probably just that, of having a very
concerned with the pre-representational forms of incomplete, a very fragmentary basis and of being
thinking represented by intuition. It is common to able despite only having fragments to see a pattern
address extraordinary contributions and that leads your decision in a certain direction
individuals in this literature, but there is no (Carlson, 2003).
276


Being able to theorize the fragmented, incomplete reproduce knowledge in the pharmaceutical
world inhabited by pharmaceutical researchers industry offers limited latitude for creating new
remains a challenge for the organization creativity knowledge; and this could be why the industry
literature. lacks radical innovation (Horrobin, 2002). We
argue that the role of intuition is an important
subset of understanding organizational creativity
7.1. Implications for management and a rather unexploited platform for creating new
Implementation of a more rationalistic approach knowledge, which demands receptiveness to a
to become more effective has been the dominating more critical view of traditional knowledge
trend in many large R&D organizations. Many management theory.
pharmaceutical companies have turned to rigorous Creativity in the context of the pharmaceutical
project and portfolio management to make industry is an ambiguous concept (Sundgren and
research more efficient (Schmid and Smith, Styhre, 2003b). The predominant notion of
2002b). One could argue against the trend to creativity stresses something that is purposeful;
implement policy that is too rigorous. This study something that other scientists have not done
suggests that intuition is an intrinsic part of the before. Creativity must always be based on
creative process in drug discovery and thus an accurate knowledge of the specific domain. Thus
important organizational resource (Sundgren and organizational creativity in new drug development
Styhre, 2003a). The study’s narratives suggest that demands an organizational capacity for becoming
intuition and creativity are poorly institutionalized masters of a specific scientific domain, while
in research-based organizations. So here, enabling an overview of an area of science.
rationalist approaches that draw on
A clear message for senior management is to be
technoscientific practices (e.g. HTS) would
open to discussion within the organization
benefit from being supported by continuous,
regarding ways in which intuition plays an
widely shared narratives on how research,
important role within drug discovery research.
innovation, and creativity materialize in daily
This would enable better understanding of
activities in pharmaceutical and other research-
organizational creativity in which intuition is not
based organizations. The narrative view of
seen as a fuzzy concept, but as an asset that could
organizational practices (see, e.g. Czarniawska,
be in balance with the rationalistic thinking.
1998; Gabriel, 2000) suggests that the process of
We argue that intuition is needed, because
organizing is embedded in story-telling and joint
creativity is an ambiguous concept. As Deleuze
sense making of events and occurrences. Narrative
and Guattari (1995, p. 18) write:
studies of organizations, such as Orr’s (1996)
study of copy-machine technicians, Boje’s (1991) In any concept there are usually bits or components
that come from other concepts, which
study of an office supply firm, Bryman’s (2000) corresponded to other problems and presuposed
examination of technology-based firms, and other planes. This is inevitable because each
Humphreys and Brown’s (2002) analysis of concept carries out new cutting-out, takes on new
organizational identities from a narrative contours, and must be reactivated or recut. On the
perspective suggest that the institutionalization of other hand concepts also has a becoming that
vocabularies, standard plots, speech genres, and so involves its relationships with concepts situated on
forth, support and reinforce organizational the same plane.
practices. So this study suggests that an ongoing Acknowledgement of intuition’s role in new drug
narrative on intuition and creativity would development would:
facilitate more effective research practices. Being .
enrich contextual thinking that broadens
able to tell stories and share experiences from scope through radical thinking and enrich the
highly specialized, sophisticated research-based concept of organizational creativity;
work remains as one of the key mechanisms that .
increase an organization’s ability to move
underlies excellent organizational performance in between different scientific domains within
the pharmaceutical industry. Thus, telling stories new drug development; and
about intuition and creativity is an integral, yet .
enable management to increase the probability
somewhat neglected component of the
of capturing ideas in an early phase, which
pharmaceutical researcher’s skills set.
could result in scientific breakthroughs.
From the rationalist view within contemporary
management theory and from a pharmaceutical
industry perspective, the rationalistic view of
making research more effective somewhat parallels
the dominant knowledge management tradition 8. Conclusion
(Styhre, 2002). This tradition tends to manage and
distribute knowledge in organizations as fixed and This paper presents a study of the role of intuition
ready-made. This trend to codify, integrate and in pharmaceutical research. Conceiving of
277


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